What is the meaning of yellow?

The meaning of yellow is very happy, warm, stimulating, and expansive. Yellow draws people out and makes them more talkative. It helps to focus one’s attention and stimulate the intellect. Yellow also encourages hope and optimism, and is very grounding and supportive when muted. Some common properties of the color yellow include:

Social / Extroverted

Enriching

Cheerful (happiest of all colors)

Expansive

Grounding, support, stability (when muted)

Stimulating

Warmth

Abundance / Richness / Splendor

Hope / Optimism

High-spirited / Inspiring

Potency / Fertility

Freedom

Sincerity

The meaning of the color yellow is commonly associated with light and the sun. Like the sun, the color yellow is very warm, uplifting, cheerful and happy. In fact, a yellow room will tend to make people more talkative and outgoing.

The meaning of yellow as described in “The Herder Dictionary of Symbols: symbols from art, archaeology, literature and religion” is as follows:

“Yellow is associated with the symbolism of gold, light, and the sun; like gold, it is symbolic of eternity and transfiguration.

As the color of autumn, yellow is considered to be the color of ripeness and maturity.

In China it was contrasted to the color black but was also its complement; the close connection between yellow and black corresponds to the manifold relationships of the yang (yellow) and yin (black) (see yin and yang ). Hence, for example, yellow arises out of black as the earth arises out of the primal waters. Since yellow designates the center of the universe, it was also the color of the emperor.

Sometimes a distinction is made in the meaning ascribed to various nuances of yellow. For example, golden yellow represents goodness and light; sulfur yellow, evil or devilishness. In Islam, for example, the golden yellow designates wisdom and good advice; pale yellow, betrayal and deception.

In ancient Egypt and during the Middle Ages, negative interpretations predominated. The meaning of yellow was associated with envy or disgrace (e.g., in the clothing of Jews, heretics, prostitutes.) In a positive sense, it occurs in medieval murals primarily as a substitute for gold.”